Streaming media is media that is constantly received by and presented to a destination (e.g., a client) while being delivered by a provider (e.g., a host). Moreover, “to stream” can refer to the process of delivering media in this manner. The term “streaming media” can refer to the delivery method of the media rather than the media itself.
In some examples of streaming media, a client media player can begin playing a media file (such as an audio file or audio visual file) before the entire media file has been transmitted. Distinguishing the delivery method from the media distributed applies to telecommunications networks (e.g., computer networks), as most other delivery systems are either inherently streaming (e.g., radio, television) or inherently non-streaming (e.g., books, video cassettes, audio CDs). Moreover, the term “streaming media” can apply to media other than video and audio media such as live closed captioning, stock ticker, real-time text or the like.